Page 41 - The Power to Change Anything

30 INFLUENCER

With this in mind, Silbert targets two high-leverage behav-
iors that help residents talk in ways that eventually destroy the
gang culture. First, she requires each person to take responsi-
bility for someone else’s success. Second, she demands that
everyone confront everyone else about every single violation.
To transform these ideals into realities, each resident is
placed in charge of someone else the very first week. For
instance, say you’re a resident who was homeless and strung out
on crack a week ago. During the seven days since coming to
Delancey, someone who had been a resident for only a little
longer than you would take you under his or her wing and
teach you to set a table in the restaurant. A week later when
someone even newer than you comes in, you’re in charge of
teaching that person to set the table. From that moment for-
ward, people no longer talk to you about how you’re doing.
They ask you how your crew is doing.
Next, residents learn the second vital behavior: to speak up
to people who are breaking rules, drifting off, becoming ver-
bally aggressive, and otherwise behaving badly. For most ex-
criminals, talking about these types of problems is like speaking
a foreign language. Ultimately, Silbert helps residents change
their values and attitudes—even their hearts—but she does so
by focusing on two vital behaviors.

STUDY THE BEST

Silbert and Wiwat (in fact, all the influence masters we stud-
ied) make judicious use of vital behaviors. It’s their trademark.
Before they run off willy-nilly implementing the first influence
strategy that comes to mind, they search for behaviors—vital
behaviors.
How do legitimate researchers actually discover the hand-
ful of behaviors that typically lead to success? People will tell
you that they’ve discovered the behaviors that lead to weight
loss or increased productivity or whatever it is that you want to